No Accounting for Taste podcast ep11: Big Four fines, MTD and advisory firms

This week accountant and business coach Carl Reader joins the podcast to chew over the latest news and insight from the accounting industry.

Stories covered in this week’s episode include the FRC cracking down on ‘seriously poor’ audit practices from the Big Four in light of recent scandals, how small practitioners are reacting to the government’s Making Tax Digital scheme and what the ubiquitous term ‘advisory services’ means for accounting practices.

The pod also tackled the curious case of the missing comma that cost a company in America $5m. The story centres on a group of delivery-truck drivers from Maine sued their employer, Oakhurst Dairy, for unpaid overtime and lost wages.

The state of Maine’s overtime laws outlined activities that did not qualify for overtime, which included the following excerpt:

The key point is the missing comma between “shipment” and “or.” In the drivers’ view, that meant the entire clause “packing for shipment or distribution of…” was one activity, not two separate ones, exempt from overtime.

The drivers argued that since they had distributed, but not packed, the products, they were owed overtime wages. The appeals court agreed, ruling the passage ambiguous.

Enjoy the podcast, and if you’d like more information on the stories discussed here are the links: